I am not sure if I should be proud of this, but I wrote Nick (one of the Xomba founders) before I ever even signed up. I did some research on the site, and found some negative reviews. I expressed my concern before signing up for Xomba, and immediately received a personal response.

This gained a lot of ground with me as I personally believe in direct interaction and customer service. Apparently that interchange inspired Nick to write a byte on his philosophy of customer service. In a world of automated response and outsourced customer service, personal service goes far.

I am an avid follower of marketing genius Seth Godin and absolutely believe in transparency, personalization, and unabashed service. Servant leadership is one of the most important lessons that can be taught.

Perhaps this isn't the most favorable political climate to make such an admission, but I work for a considerably large oil and gas company. The company is very interesting as it has held tightly to its "small company" origins. We hardly advertise, unlike some competitors, and we are very public friendly. I understand there is animosity towards energy companies currently, but I must say that this corporation simply has an admirable amount of integrity. The highest levels of the corporation will communicate with the general public, and there is never an attitude of being "too good". I personally return every phone call I receive. From what I have seen, a Senior Vice President will return voice mails from the most common person. It really speaks volumes.